Less than two hours before Wednesday’s game against Minnesota, significant news broke for the Indiana basketball program. It was announced and then confirmed by HoosierIllustrated.com, including other outlets, that Mike Woodson would be returning to Indiana for the 2024-25 season.
Indiana was in free fall over the last two months after starting 10-3 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. It went 4-10 in the next 14 games, sending Indiana entirely out of the NCAA Tournament discussion.
While the record was enough to begin having a conversation about the direction of the program, it was the manner in which Indiana lost that was a cause for more concern.
Six of the 10 losses in conference play were by 10+ points, with three other losses by eight, nine and nine points.
The fan base began to be split on whether bringing back Mike Woodson for a fourth year would be the right move. Even a three-game winning streak following IU’s 70-58 win over the Gophers on Wednesday couldn’t shake many of the opinions flying around.
But, none of that made much of an impact on Mike Woodson, who was asked about the news postgame.
“I’m not going to discuss it,” Woodson said cutting off the question. “I shouldn’t have to sit here in front of you guys and discuss my job. No comment.”
Then, a follow up question about whether or not he felt support from the Indiana administration got a similar answer.
“I’m not discussing with you guys my job. I shouldn’t have to do that,” Woodson added. “I feel good in my skin in terms of my job.”
Indiana basketball is 17-13 overall this season and 9-10 in Big Ten play and even after last night’s win, sits at 92nd overall in the KenPom ratings. That is the lowest Indiana has been since the 2009-10 season when it finished 10-21 overall. It was Tom Crean’s second year in Bloomington.
While a lot of the general public was on the side of moving on from Woodson, one college basketball icon made his option known.
“This is definitely the right thing that Indiana is doing,” Dick Vitale tweeted. “Mike Woodson has done quality work during his tenure & just because a year doesn’t meet expectations that u run & fire the coach.”
Mike Woodson went 21-14 in his first season and 23-12 last year. Both years he took Indiana basketball to the NCAA Tournament, ending a non-NCAA Tournament drought that lasted since the 2015-16 season.
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